An interesting take on the current sanctions regime against Russia by Dr. Dan Steinbock who observes that “the West continues to rely on the idea that “Putin is the problem, Russia is with us.” In reality, Putin’s actions reflect the wishes of the Russian people, including the moderate majority and the emerging middle classes.
Analysis
Punishing Putin Mostly Means Punishing His Foes (Leonid Bershidsky)
Washington wants more sanctions. But they would further strangle a pro-democracy movement on life support.
Is the Old NATO Dead? (Salvatore Babones)
In the twentieth century, NATO served its purpose admirably. The twenty-first century may feature the same old challengers, but the challenges have changed. Germany is no longer the fault line of Europe. Ukraine is the new fault line, and Ukraine is unlikely to gain NATO membership anytime soon.
NBC’s Kelly Hits Putin with a Beloved Canard (Ray McGovern)
To prove their chops, mainstream media stars can’t wait to go head-to-head with a demonized foreign leader, like Vladimir Putin, and let him have it, even if their “facts” are wrong, as Megyn Kelly showed and Ray McGovern explains.
Reconsidering Russia Podcast: Pietro Shakarian Interviews Professor Paul Robinson
In this podcast, Dr. Robinson discusses US-Russian relations, Canadian-Russian relations, Boris Johnson, Aleksei Navalny, Russian conservatism, Russian Eurasianism, Russian Orientalism, avant-garde Soviet science fiction, and the origin of the name of his blog Irrussianality.
The danger of ‘Foreign Policy by Bumper Sticker’
Important column in the Washington Post by Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel on the distorting effect the American triumphalist narrative has on the conduct of American foreign policy, especially with regard to issues involving Russia and the Middle East. According to vanden Heuvel “without facing meaningful consequences for reckless triumphalism, politicians have little incentive to break with the prevailing orthodoxy, especially when questioning America’s “indispensable” role inevitably results in attacks on their patriotism.”
The Russians Are Here….(Paul Robinson)
Good thing I checked…
Pulling Russia and Ukraine Back from the Brink of War
The simmering fighting in Ukraine has led to a false sense of complacency in the West that this conflict might be drifting into a frozen state. It is far from intractable, but the past several months have imposed a fog of cognitive dissonance that will be rudely pulled back, either when Moscow loses patience, or perhaps worse, control. If the West does not return its attention to Ukraine and take an active role in managing the conflict, a resumption of the war is likely.
NYT’s New Syria-Sarin Report Challenged (Robert Parry)
An MIT national security scientist says the New York Times pushed a “fraudulent” analysis of last April’s “sarin” incident in Syria, part of a troubling pattern of “groupthink” and “confirmation bias,” writes Robert Parry.
Paul Robinson on Canadian Foreign Minister Freeland’s Recent Address
This is not an encouraging speech. It lacks humility and self-reflection. In this respect, it is exactly what one would expect from a politician: self-reflection isn’t patriotic; it certainly isn’t a vote winner.
Bringing Ukraine Back Into Focus
This article first appeared as part of the Bow Group’s research paper titled “The Sanctions on Russia.”
Britain’s foremost expert on Russian and European politics, Professor Richard Sakwa, has precisely articulated why all attempts to resolve the crisis in Ukraine have ended in failure:
“The Ukraine conflict is the child of the cold peace. Although there are profound internal contradictions in the Ukrainian model of state development, these would not have assumed such disastrous forms if the geopolitics of post–Cold War Europe had been sorted out earlier.”
Back in the USSR (William Astore)
Jump into your time machine and let me transport you back to another age.
It’s May 2001 and the Atlantic Monthly has just arrived in the mail. I’m tantalized by the cover article. “Russia is finished,” the magazine announces.
The Interview: Henry Kissinger
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger sat down with The National Interest magazine for a wide ranging interview in July. Kissinger notes that, with regard to the Ukraine crisis “One has to analyze how the Ukraine crisis occurred. It is not conceivable that Putin spends sixty billion euros on turning a summer resort into a winter Olympic village in order to start a military crisis the week after a concluding ceremony that depicted Russia as a part of Western civilization.”
Hey Intercept, Something is Very Wrong with Reality Winner and the NSA Leak (Peter van Buren)
An NSA document purporting to show Russian military hacker attempts to access a Florida company which makes voter registration software is sent anonymously to The Intercept. A low-level NSA contractor, Reality Winner, is arrested almost immediately. What’s wrong with this picture? A lot.
STRAIGHT SHOOTING FROM THE UK
Professor Paul Robinson takes a look at a new report by the British think tank, The Bow Group, which notes that “Given that many people in Ukraine actually consider themselves to be Russian, and that the justifications for sanctions may have shifted, it appears necessary to revise our approach to what could be considered one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.”
VIDEO: Liberals Rally For ‘Truth’ On Trump and Russia (Max Blumenthal)
Video footage of last weekend’s so-called Rally for Truth in Washington, DC.
Why Are Leftists Letting the Democratic Establishment Define the Trump Opposition? (Michael Tracey)
At the “March for Truth” in Los Angeles, which I attended, the main theme was that Trump had committed treason; Soviet-era and homophobic iconography was appropriated to portray Trump as a “puppet” who has sold out the American people on behalf of his Russian benefactors.
Democrats Chase Red Herring of Russia-gate (Norman Solomon)
The Democrats’ demagogic use of Russia-gate to “resist” President Trump is putting progressives in league with warmongers and war contractors while postponing a serious assessment of the party’s political problems, warns Norman Solomon.
Feinstein: No Evidence Of Russian Collusion With Trump Campaign (RealClearPolitics)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), pressed twice by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer for evidence, said she still has seen none that would show collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“Soft Power”: The Values that Shape Russian Foreign Policy
In the increasingly frigid environment of U.S.-Russia relations, much attention is given to what may be seen as Russia’s strategic “interests.” (Of course, much of the policymaking class in the West seems to suggest that Russia is entitled to no “interests” whatsoever.) Of at least equal significance for understanding Russian attitudes, however, is a grasp of the values, the moral framework for Russia’s foreign policy.